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AbbVie Declares Quarterly Dividend, Launches Stock Buybacks

The pharmaceutical company announces a new payout, and authorizes $1.5 billion in share repurchases.

AbbVie(NYSE:ABBV) has declared a quarterly dividend and instituted a share repurchase program. The dividend is $0.40 per share of the firm's common stock, which is to be paid May 15 to shareholders of record as of April 15. That payout annualizes to $1.60, yielding 4.3% on the company's current share price of $37.58.

This is the second dividend payment in AbbVie's short history, and its amount matches the first payout made in January.

AbbVie's stock buyback program is effective immediately, and authorizes the company to repurchase up to $1.5 billion of its shares for what it termed "a multi-year period." The program has no time limit.

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Eric has been writing about stocks and finance since the mid-1990s, when he lived in Prague, Czech Republic. Over the course of a varied career, he has also been a radio newscaster, an investment banker, and a bass player in a selection of rock and roll bands. A native New Yorker, he currently lives in Los Angeles.